CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi has been serving the area for more than 55 years, and the organization's business manager Betty Berry said a lot of that is because of Msgr. Richard Shirley's example in the 1960s.
"He would serve PB&J sandwiches and bologna sandwiches out of the back of the Chancery," she said. "Mother Teresa (shelter) and Catholic Charities and have been serving the poor ever since."
Shirley died Monday night. He was 81.
Shirley was born and raised in Corpus Christi, and was ordained in 1967 at the Corpus Christi Cathedral, a parish he would serve as rector later in his career.
Described by those who loves and respected him, Shirleywas named a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II, which bestowed the title of monsignor on him in 1981.
He served the diocese and its parishes in many capacities -- first as chaplain to the Sisters of the Incarnate Word Convent, as well as at the Corpus Christi Cathedral, St. Pius X, and St. Patrick Church.
He also served the diocese as chancellor and as vicar general, and his appreciation of music led to two of Corpus Christi's most enduring music ventures -- the Cathedral Music Ministry in 1984 and radio station KLUX in 1985.
Msgr. Roger Smith got to know Shirley after he was ordained and assigned to the Cathedral as Shirley's associate pastor.
"He had a great sense of humor," he said of his best friend. "For many years, his sermons began with something from the 'Peanuts' cartoons."
Berry, who met Shirley as a parishioner at St. Patrick, said she had a lot of laughs with him in the 30 years she knew him.
"I said in a Facebook post earlier, the saints are probably holding onto their sides with him up there," she said.
And while Shirley was known to play a practical joke or two, Smith said Shirley took his mission to help his hometown and community very seriously.
As well as what he did for Catholic Charities, he also helped establish Loaves and Fishes -- a soup kitchen which would eventually become one of the programs run by Metro Ministries.
Smith said Shirley was moved to do it after people would come to the rectory door asking for food.
"The impact that he was always trying to have was just to help people know that they were special and that God loved them," Smith said. "And to try to be a sign of God's love to them."
Inspired to learn more about to help his city, he graduated from Leadership Corpus Christi, a training ground for civic-minded leaders looking to give back to the Corpus Christi community.
"He was just the nicest guy," said Foster Edwards, who graduated from LCC's 11th class with Shirley. "He was a terrific man. I enjoyed knowing him."
And just as he did the secular community, Shirley also tried to bring the different religious communities together as an advocate of ecumenical movements. And he was often successful.
"People were just attracted to him," Smith said.
And he always aimed to make himself available to those in need. It's a characteristic that Smith said he learned from his friend.
"I remember there was one situation where there was a young man who was 17 years old and he had an argument in his family. Got kicked out of his home. Monsignor found him sleeping in the bushes around the church. He reached out to him."
Smith said Shirley found the boy a place to live, a job and helped him get back on track, ultimately joining the military and starting a family.
"Just recently, as Monsignor was getting more ill, he flew all the way from California to be with him and say 'Thank you,' " Smith said. "He said if it hadn't been for what he had done for him, his whole life would have been different. He was just a very generous person."
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